Souls speaking from the afterlife, dead nuns, and a priest who escaped death after crashing
his motorcycle. They've all given riveting firsthand accounts of purgatory. Here's what they saw
If you're thinking purgatory is almost heaven, well, not exactly. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is basically the church doctrine, defines purgatory
as a purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven
Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes it as an intermediate state after death, pointing to Roman Catholic writings that claim it is a place or state to punishment
The dictionary goes on to add, "...Purgatory is where the souls of those who die in God's grace may make satisfaction
for past sins and so become fit for heaven." The type of sin committed in one's life also affects accounts of purgatory
In Roman Catholic doctrine, venial sins are considered less severe than mortal sins, such
as envy or neglecting prayer. According to accounts, however, both types of sins play a role in how one experiences purgatory
So, almost heaven? more like almost hell. In November 1873, a nun allegedly spoke to a soul in purgatory
It was a nun from her covenant, Sister MG, who had died over two years earlier
Her account is outlined in December 1967's An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory
The soul told the nun, in the great purgatory there are several stages In the lowest and most painful it is like a temporary hell And here there are the sinners who have committed terrible crimes during life and whose deaths surprise them in that state At this level of apparent mortal sin she said there are also souls who were indifferent to God
The next stage is for those who at the time of their death had venial sins or mortal sins that
were forgiven, but for which they had not made entire satisfaction to the divine justice
as Sister MG noted. The final stage was the purgatory of desire, also known as the threshold
which Sister MG allegedly said few people escaped. The soul said to the nun
To avoid it altogether, one must ardently desire heaven and the vision of God
That is rare, rarer than people think, because even pious people are afraid of God and have not
therefore, a sufficiently strong desire of going to heaven. Father Jos Maniangat, a Catholic priest, got into a motorcycle accident back in 1985
He survived, but claims to have experienced death and says in this time he was escorted to heaven
hell and purgatory. On his website, his story is prefaced with a disclaimer that says the Diocese
of St. Augustine investigated his claims and couldn't authenticate or endorse them. Nevertheless
he continues to tell his tale and has appeared on various podcasts doing just that. In hell
the priest claims there are seven levels of suffering, each defined by the number of mortal
sins its inhabitants committed during their lives. In Purgatory 2, he says there are seven stages
He wrote on his website, The main suffering of these souls is their separation from God Even though these souls are suffering they enjoy peace and the knowledge that one day they will see God face to face He said he spoke to many souls in purgatory who asked him to pray for them and spread the word
to others to do the same. The souls were waiting to enter heaven. Oh no, maybe we're not in hell yet. Maybe this is purgatory and we're on our way to be judged
In All for Jesus, or the Easy Ways of Divine Love, English theologian Frederick William Faber
covers an account of purgatory that came through Sister Francesca. Though she herself never went
there, she apparently spoke of a 14-year-old girl who did because she was too young at the time of
her death to have conformed to the will of God. While there, one soul allegedly told her
"'Ah, men little think in the world how dearly they are going to pay here for faults they hardly
note there.'" Faber pointed to this account as expressive of the nature of purgatory, writing
"'Wrong notions about small faults may thus lead us to neglect the dead
or leave off our prayers too soon, as well as lose the lesson for ourselves. And again
both views agree as to the helplessness of the holy souls. The term holy souls refers to those
in purgatory and those that the faithful offer prayers to in life. The life of Saint Gemma
Galgani offers yet another account of purgatory. Galgani, also known as the Daughter of Passion
was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1940. She claimed to have spoken with a
religious sister who died after suffering for a few months Her soul allegedly appeared to Galgani full of sorrow as she suffered in purgatory Galgani spent her next days offering prayers and petitions to
God to save the sister. And in her diary from this time, she describes being visited by the soul
in the form of a woman dressed in white. The soul allegedly said, I thank you so very much for the great concern you have shown me because soon I shall be able
to attain my eternal happiness. The Daughter of Passion claimed that after 16 days, she saw Mary
the mother of Jesus, and then the sister with her guardian angel and Jesus in the same doctrine
The soul thanked her before departing. Galgani wrote, She made a sign of bidding me goodbye with her hand several times, and with Jesus and her guardian
angel, she flew to heaven. As for an earthly explanation of what was going on, let's start
with this. Her own sister mocked her, indicating that it wasn't as divine as it appeared
The guardian later claimed, She was given to displays of flamboyant suffering, to public and extreme fasting and self-denial
and the exhibition of torn and bleeding flesh. She also claimed to have experienced stigmata
that's bleeding from the hands, wrist, feet, or head, things that align with Jesus' crucifixion
wounds. Specifically, Saint Gemma bled from her head. Gemma is a saint, but even at the time in
1940 of her canonization, she was a controversial pick for sainthood. Modern research continues to
look into her claims of purgatory and what her life really was like back then